Report: Selena Gomez found ‘Saved by the Bell’ reboot’s kidney transplant jokes “bullying and offensive”
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesWhile Selena Gomez has not responded personally to the Saved by the Bell reboot controversy, where an episode mocked her life-saving kidney transplant, a source tells Entertainment Tonight that she was hurt by what she saw.
A source close to the “Lose You to Love Me” singer claims, “Selena was really upset by the Saved by the Bell scene about her health and thought of it as bullying and offensive.”
Mirroring the criticism that came from her 2017 kidney donor Francia Raisa, who worried that the SBTB reboot hurt organ donors and recipients, Gomez seemingly expressed concern over how they received the supposed jokes.
“She felt as though her kidney transplant, and others who have gone through that, was used as a joke at her expense,” the source added.
As previously reported, the controversial scenes appeared in the sixth episode of the show, which featured an exchange between two characters who insisted that either Justin Bieber‘s mother or Demi Lovato donated their kidney to Selena.
There’s also a scene that shows the words “Does Selena Gomez even have kidneys?” spray painted in bold black letters on the wall.
The scenes have since been edited out of the episode and an apology has been issued by the Peacock streaming service, NBCUniversal and the show’s executive producers.
By ABC Audio on December 2, 2020
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesWhile Selena Gomez has not responded personally to the Saved by the Bell reboot controversy, where an episode mocked her life-saving kidney transplant, a source tells Entertainment Tonight that she was hurt by what she saw.
A source close to the “Lose You to Love Me” singer claims, “Selena was really upset by the Saved by the Bell scene about her health and thought of it as bullying and offensive.”
Mirroring the criticism that came from her 2017 kidney donor Francia Raisa, who worried that the SBTB reboot hurt organ donors and recipients, Gomez seemingly expressed concern over how they received the supposed jokes.
“She felt as though her kidney transplant, and others who have gone through that, was used as a joke at her expense,” the source added.
As previously reported, the controversial scenes appeared in the sixth episode of the show, which featured an exchange between two characters who insisted that either Justin Bieber‘s mother or Demi Lovato donated their kidney to Selena.
There’s also a scene that shows the words “Does Selena Gomez even have kidneys?” spray painted in bold black letters on the wall.
The scenes have since been edited out of the episode and an apology has been issued by the Peacock streaming service, NBCUniversal and the show’s executive producers.
